Iowa's vehicle-specific power of attorney, and the cleanest way to sell a car you cannot be in the room for. Eight tick boxes decide what the agent may do - apply for a title, assign a title, apply for a replacement, note a security interest, sign the odometer statement, sign the damage disclosure, claim a lease refund, or something else you write in. It is notarised, it names the vehicle, and it is surrendered with the application it was used for.
Written against 411021 (12-20), issued under Iowa Code s. 321.49 and 761 Iowa Admin. Code 400.13(6), an attorney in fact acting for a living owner.
The eight tick boxes are the whole of the authority. An agent handed a power with only box 1 ticked can apply for a title and cannot assign one - which is the opposite of what a seller usually needs. If the point is to sell the car, box 2 is the one that matters, and box 5 and box 6 are the ones people forget.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank 411021 from the iowadot.forms.govos.com copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual 411021, rendered from the PDF the Iowa Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.
Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below
Rendered from the department's own published form and completed for the commonest reason a seller needs one: somebody else signing the back of the title. Grey marks the notarial certificate, which the notary completes. Every name and number is invented for the sample.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Tick what the agent may do
Eight boxes. To sell a car, box 2 - assignment of certificate of title - is the essential one.
Watch out: Add box 5 and box 6 if the car is a 2011 or newer or a 2019 or newer, because the odometer and damage disclosures live in the same block on the title and somebody has to be authorised to make them.
2
You fill this in
Your name, in three boxes
First, middle and last name of the owner granting the power.
Watch out: Match the front of the title exactly. The power is only good for the person the certificate says owns the car.
3
You fill this in
Address, county and state
Your address in full, then the county and state you are a resident of.
Watch out: Residency is asked because the notarial block underneath is a state-specific act. If you are signing outside Iowa, a notary in that state can still take it.
4
You fill this in
Appoint your agent
One line for the name of the person you are appointing.
Watch out: Use their full legal name as it appears on their identification. They will be signing the back of a title as your attorney in fact.
5
You fill this in
The vehicle
Iowa title number where there is one, then make, style, year, VIN, model and colour.
Watch out: Colour is asked for on this form and on almost nothing else in the Iowa set. Take it from the front of the certificate rather than from the paintwork.
6
You fill this in
Signed at, and the date
Where you signed it, the day, the month and the year, then your signature as owner.
Watch out: Sign in front of the notary. The block below is a notarial certificate, not a witness line.
7
Somebody else fills this in
The notary completes the foot of the page
State, county, the date it was signed or attested before them, the names of the individuals, and the notary's signature.
Watch out: Then hand the original over with the paperwork. The form says the power must be surrendered with the application, so keep a copy for yourself before it goes.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
To complete the following: eight tick boxes
Application for Certificate of Title; Assignment of Certificate of Title; Application for Replacement Certificate of Title; Application for Notation of Security Interest; Motor Vehicle Odometer (Mileage) Statement; Damage Disclosure Statement; Application for Refund for a Leased Vehicle; Other, with a line.
First Name, Middle Name, Last Name
The owner granting the power, in three boxes.
of (address in full)
One long line for the grantor's address.
a Resident of ___ County, State of ___
Two boxes establishing where the grantor lives.
does hereby make, constitute, and appoint
The agent's name, on a single line inside the sentence.
Iowa title number, when applicable
The certificate the power relates to, if there is one.
Make, Style, Year / V.I.N., Model, Color of Vehicle
Six boxes describing the one vehicle this power covers.
Signed at ___ this ___ day of ___, ___, Owner
Place, day, month, year and the owner's signature.
State of ___, County of ___, Signed (or attested) before me on ___ by ___
The notarial block, with the notary's signature line at the foot.
What gets this one rejected
•A power that names no vehicle. The form is built around one car - make, style, year, VIN, model and colour - and the department's alternative for a general power is Form 411020.
•A power that is not notarised. The block at the foot is a notarial certificate, and 761 IAC 400.13(6) is what lets an attorney in fact act at all.
•Keeping the original. Printed on the form: power of attorney must be surrendered with application.
•Using it after the owner has died. It appoints an attorney for a living owner. A deceased owner's vehicle goes through Form 411083 or Form 411088.
•Ticking nothing. The eight boxes are the scope of the authority; an unmarked form authorises nothing in particular.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•It is one vehicle, one power. Every vehicle box on it is singular. If two cars are being sold, two powers.
•The odometer and damage boxes are there deliberately. Federal odometer rules are strict about who may disclose. Ticking box 5 is what lets the agent make the mileage statement, and box 6 does the same for the damage disclosure.
•Other alternatives exist and the department names them. 761 IAC 400.13(6) allows other forms or a certified true copy if they contain all necessary information - so a solicitor-drawn power that covers the ground can be accepted.
•The agent is not free to invent. The form authorises the attorney to include such statements and warranties as to mortgages, security interests, and encumbrances as he may believe to be true, and the owner ratifies what the agent does under it.
•A general power needs a companion. Where the power is a general one rather than this vehicle-specific form, Iowa wants Form 411020 alongside it, one affidavit per vehicle.
